Improvement in railroad-rail joints



UNITED STATES PATENT QFFIGE.

SAMUEL 'r. HUGHES, or NEWBURG, oHIo.

IMPROVEMENT IN RAILROAD-RAIL JOINTS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 174,248, dated February29, 1876; application filed 1 February 1, 1876. v

To all whom it may concernn Be it known that I, SAMUEL T. HUGHES, ofNewburg, in the-county of L'uyahoga and State of Ohio, have inventedcertain new and useful Improvement in Railroad- Rail Joints; and I dohereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact descriptionof the 7 the provision of a joint of a very strong and durablecharacter; a joint in which bolts and nuts are entirely dispensed with,and the' ordinary rail-spikes alone employed to secure all the partsfirmly together, and a joint which will preserve the ends of the railsfrombeing battered by concussion of the wheels of cars,

all as hereinafter fully described.

Referring to the accompanying drawings, A A designate the adjacent endsof two railroad-rails, and B B the fish-plates, havingtheir lower edgesflanged outwardly, as at c 0, and the flanges notched or recessed midwaybetween the ends of the plates, as at d. The rails do-notmeet, but areseparated by a short section, 6, of equal height and width with themain'rails, formingacontinuation thereof, but additionally flanged at dd to receive and retain the fishplates, which are slid longitudinallybehind said flanges. The base of section 6 is recessedor notched, as ate, to coincide with the notches in the fish-plate flanges. place, theyare firml secured by means of the two spikes ff, which are driven intothe ties through the notches d 0, so that their heads shall rest on theportion of the fish-plate flanges lying back of the notches. The jointmay be readily removed by displacing the spikes.

The advantages of the improvement described, in point of cheapness,strength, and other desirable qualities, are so apparent as to requireno argument. It is but to be remarked that the results of expansion andcontraction are equally divided between the two subjoints or divisionsseparating the main rails and. intervening section hence the batteringof the ends of the rail consequent upon large openings is prevented. Thefastening may, if desired, be used Without the section 0, more than onespike on each side being then used.

I claim 1. The combination of therails A A, flanged and notchedfishplates B B, and spikes f f, substantially as described.

2. The flanged and notched fish-plates B B, and flanged section 0, incombination with the rails A A, substantially as described.

3. The flanged supplementary rail'section 6, adapted to receive and holdthe fish-plates B B, substantially as shown and described.

In testimony that 1 claim the foregoing, I hereunto set my hand this 8thday of January, 1876.

, SAMUEL T.JHUGHES.

Witnesses When all the parts mentioned are in

